532 



DEVELOPMENT OF RUBBER. 



"The India Rubber World " commemorates its twentieth anniver- 

 sary in the number for Sept. I, 1909, and gives a little retrospect of 

 the development and changes in the history of rubber industry. 

 "Twenty years ago," says the editor," rubber planting was a joke. 

 Why not cultivate coal, scoffed one critic ? About as practical as the 

 romances of "Jules Verne," affirmed another. Yet to-day the rubber 

 trade of the world not only believes in rubber cultivation but has 

 invested millions of dollars in it very profitably." He points out too 

 the development of the rubber chemist, as an essential part of every 

 satisfactory organisation. Much of the manufacturing machinery 

 remains much the same as it was twenty years ago though made 

 speedier and generally improved. Mr. Pearson speaks from a 

 manufacturer's point of view, but the change of cultivation during 

 the past twenty years has been even more striking. 



Who, twenty years ago, ever thought of employing a mycologist, 

 or a chemist or entomologist on an estate? If the matter had been 

 suggested we should be met with the old parrot-cry, "We don't want 

 a scientific man, we want a practical man". The old-fashioned 

 planters of the early days looked askance when any word of scientific 

 technology, to which they were then quite unaccustomed, were 

 mentioned. Now such words as cambium, latex, nitrogenous plants 

 and Termes are quite familiar in their mouths as household words. 



This change from the rule of thumb or empiric system to the 

 scientific or knowledge system marks an era in the commencement 

 of a sound system of cultivation not only of rubber but of every other 

 plant of use, and this is probably the greatest and most remarkable 

 feature of the rise of the rubber industry. — Ed. 



RUBBER IN DUTCH GUIANA. 



The planting of Hevea in all likely and unlikely parts of the 

 world goes on apace. The Government of Dutch Guiana has com- 

 menced cultivation with the modest area of 500 acres, and the 

 partial failure of the cacao crop, one of the important crops of the 

 country, has induced planters to turn their attention to rubber. The 

 combination of banana and rubber planting should prove a success 

 there, as a regular weekly service between Paramaribo and New 

 York will enable the planters to get their bananas to the market 

 speedily. 



The Government is providing British cooly labour under the 

 indenture system, as is also the case in British Guiana. We have 

 no record as to whether the seeds sent to Dutch Guiana were sup- 

 plied by the British Colonies also, but this is probable as the bulk 

 of the plants in British Guiana came from the Singapore Botanic 

 Gardens. Looking at the map of the world, it seems odd that 

 Guiana, abutting on the Brazilian fatherland of Hevea, should be 

 supplied with Hevea plants from the East Indies. 



